Orphan's Run
by BrilliantCrescentStar
Summary: The thief, Amei, stole the Dominion Jewel in hopes of gaining her freedom; while Raine, the palace's newest maid, is running from her past. Please R&R.
1. Amei

Disclaimer: Not mine. Mostly. I only own everything you don't recognise. And these dots: . And this exclamation mark! And this question mark? But the rest is not mine.  
  
Spoilers (very important): In this chapter there's spoilers from Lioness Rampant, and I think that's it, but in the next chapter there'll probably be spoilers from the three Tortall serieses (is that a word?).  
  
A/N: This was originally meant to start the year after Lady Knight, but the war with Scanra lasted until the end of Summer in Trickster's Choice. oh, stuff it. It doesn't really matter that much.  
  
I hope it's not too confusing. Enjoy.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Amei  
  
456 HE  
  
The thief crept through the palace at night, slipping past guards like a shadow formed by moonlight. She was little more than an orphan, a street rat, yet she had been fortunate in the opportunities she had been given in her sixteen years of life. To her friends she was known as Mouse, but to those who demanded a proper name, she was Amei. Just Amei.  
  
She heard footsteps, like a giant cat prowling through the night, and froze. Even though the corridor was as dark as pitch, most people could sense movement near them. She knew from experience, and remembered the experience well thanks to one of the most painful broken arms she'd ever had. It was lucky that one of her best friends had a healing Gift, or her arm would now be as useful as a hole in the head.  
  
She carefully probed the incoming human with her Gift, and shrank back into the shadows. The man had the Gift too, and it seemed pretty powerful. If he could sense her, she was done for. There was no inconspicuous reason for a stranger to the castle to be wandering around it at night. The night was the perfect time for murderers and assassins, the enemies of kings and nobles.  
  
The man walked right past her. Amei gently let out a sigh of relief, and stayed frozen until she could no longer hear his footsteps. Then she continued to scurry through the castle.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
A woman, in her late twenties, with shoulder length black hair and eyes the orange of sunset fire set up camp with a young girl, about twelve years old, short and thin with mouse brown hair. They did not speak a word until the campfire had been lit and was producing enough heat for the two of them.  
  
"Amei, have you heard of the Dominion jewel?" the woman finally asked.  
  
"No, Sheiya Sunridge," the girl obediently answered.  
  
"Would you like me to tell you?" Sheiya asked.  
  
"Yes, please. I wouldn't turn down any chance to make the evenings more interesting."  
  
The woman chuckled. "I didn't think you would. You're still little more than a child at heart. Even for a child with parents." She settled back against her pack and began to tell her story.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Amei found the small storeroom. It looked so ordinary that she doubted for a second that she would find what she was looking for inside. She pulled a piece of shaped wire, a skeleton key, out of her waist pouch. It had been bespelled to open any lock and to withstand all types of anti lock picking spells, a present from the Shang Phoenix.  
  
It took her a few seconds to pick the lock, much less than the time it would take her to open it without magic. The door barely made a noise as she opened it. The inside was empty, except for a pedestal and a large violet blue gemstone. Amei took the gemstone, slipping it into a leather pouch spelled especially for that purpose. She gently closed the door, locked it, and disappeared into the night.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
453 HE  
  
The streets of Port Legann were always crowded around midday, Mouse knew. She had lived there all her life, even before she had lost her home. Today, there were a number of pages from the palace within the crowd. Although the odd page could be a threat to a street rat's health, none would bother her. She was only a girl, someone not worth the effort.  
  
Mouse hadn't eaten for almost a week, and she was searching the streets for an easy target. The food sellers were all wary of the local urchins, and most would warn them away from their shops. It was a hard life, but they had no alternative.  
  
It took a few minutes for Mouse to spot a very confident looking woman, with long black hair and eyes the colour of fire. She had a dagger and a coin pouch hanging off her belt, and Mouse could not pass up the opportunity. Her friends had warned her against stealing from anyone with a weapon, for obvious reasons, but she was a woman. The eleven year old Mouse had never even heard of a woman warrior, save the Lioness. Maybe she was only so confident because of the dagger; that she thought she could fight off anyone with it, even if she hadn't used it before. It looked like a well made dagger, very practical, but not the cheapest thing around.  
  
Mouse went in close, casually, and carefully took the coin pouch and the dagger off the belt. This was the closest to actual pick pocketing she'd ever come, and it was terrifying. Any second she could make a wrong move, use a tiny bit too much pressure and be caught. Any second.  
  
The dagger came free easily, but the coin purse took a little bit more work. Mouse pulled at the strings and it came free.  
  
The woman turned around and grabbed Mouse's wrist. She yelped in fright and tried to pull away. The woman took back her dagger and her coin purse.  
  
"Let me go," Mouse begged. "Please. I'll do anything."  
  
"You want my dagger and coin that badly?" Her comment was restrained anger at its worst, cutting like frostbite. "Fight me. Win, and you can have them with my blessings." She did not look like she would not send her blessings with the street rat if she lost.  
  
Mouse started shaking like an autumn leaf. "And if I refuse?" she asked, trying and failing to look calm. She had heard people who refused such fights were often challenged at a later date, with fatal consequences.  
  
The woman's golden eyes warned her not to refuse.  
  
"You will leave, still able to steal your desired coin from others."  
  
"If I lose?" She could not control her shaking.  
  
"I will decide whether to hand you over to the provost or to let you leave as you wish." Her eyes gave no indication of which option she would view the most favourably.  
  
Mouse tried to push away her fear, but her heart still beat like a sparrow's. She couldn't deny that she feared for her life.  
  
"I accept."  
  
She immediately ducked away from the first blow, which struck a pole holding a canvas up over a market stall. She weaved around the woman's kicks and punches, attacking only when she could afford to. The crowd parted and left the two of them to their fight, not wanting to get involved with such an experienced fighter. Mouse soon became exhausted, slowing down and gasping for breath. The woman noticed her speed and determination, but also her lack of endurance.  
  
Mouse, unable to continue the fight, back up and dropped to ground, too tired to be scared.  
  
"I yield," Mouse panted. "Do what you want with me. I yield."  
  
The woman gave her a hard, cold look.  
  
"Pack your things, farewell your friends and come back her in a quarter of an hour. You better enjoy travelling, girl, because you'll be doing a lot of it from now on."  
  
"Who for?" Mouse panted shyly, polite as her ma had taught her. "If I'm to travel with you, I should at least know your name.  
  
The woman offered her a hand and helped her upright. "Sheiya Sunridge, the Shang Phoenix."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Please R&R. The next chapter isn't finished yet and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do it. If you R&R, I'll R&R you back. I promise. 


	2. The Palace

My good friend Destiny Ruler, thanks for R&Ring. This story is so much better than the last one, and I haven't even gotten a lot of reviews! Awww! Oh, yeah, you're not going to stuff the Chinese oral exam, okay? And the written, and English, and the Biol, and the two maths (don't worry, they're easy (  
  
ElspethElf, you're my first non-person I know in person review. Thanks heaps. It might take a while for me to finish this, as I have no idea how I'm going to do the Alanna/Daine/Kel part of my fanfiction. I'm not really sure have to deal with non original characters.  
  
Kementari, I think I'm kinda scared that if I get too confident in my writing I'll end up getting arrogant about it (yeah, me: I do happen to be a Leo, believe it or not). I didn't think the Shang sounded that mean while I was writing it, but that's probably because I was writing it. Okay. my summary and title sucks deleted. Thanks! Oh, yeah, luck for the Lit exam, and the English, and whatever other exams you have.  
  
Spoilers: Immortals 'ship, although if you're far enough into the series to have figured it out, you're fine. I think that's it.  
  
A/N: I am pretending I haven't read Trickster's Choice. It's a lot more convenient that way.  
  
This chapter's a bit blah, the next one's way better.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
The Palace  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Lady Keladry of Mindelan woke up, as she had when she was a page, before dawn to practise with her glaive. A small flock of sparrows sat on the windowsill watching her. More than half of them had followed her back from Haven, the need for the refugee settlement past. King Maggur of Scandra had given up on stealing land from Tortall due to the loss of Blayne, his machine maker, and the crushing defeats dealt out by the Tortallian army.  
  
Just when she had swept the glaive down in the move 'brushstrokes on paper', a stocky black and white dog jumped through the window. Its head was shaped like a wedge, and its left ear was now nothing more than a tatter.  
  
"Jump, what are you doing up here?"  
  
Kel stabbed forward with the glaive and swept it through half a turn before reaching down to scratch the dog's head. Its tail, crooked through being broken more than once, thumped on the floor. She continued her routine until the last stroke and put her glaive away.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Verilidaine Sarrasri, otherwise known as Daine, the Wildmage of Tortall, woke up to the sounds of birds chattering, greeting the morning and chasing breakfast. She could understand their every word, thanks to her Wild magic. She had spent the last few years spying for the realm and teaching classes at the palace. Recently, she had visited Haven with her lover Numair Salamain, the most powerful mage in Tortall, in the middle of a spying session on King Maggot. Speaking of Numair, his side of the bed was empty.  
  
Daine got out of bed in a hurry. The King of Carthak had been after him for years, and it was possible that he could have gotten into the castle during the night, however unlikely.  
  
Then she remembered. The King of Carthak was dead, had been so for years. A light breeze from the open window blew a folded note off the desk. Daine picked it up and read it. Numair had been summoned by King Jonathan early in the morning, and would meet her in the mess hall for breakfast.  
  
I had better get to the mess hall then, Diane thought. Then she grinned. Don't want to miss my scoundrel of a boyfriend.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Lady Alanna, Baroness of Pirate's Swoop and the King's Champion, sat in the mess hall, watching the pages and palace-bound squires eat their morning meal. She spotted one page stealing a piece of bread of another's plate. Just like Ralon had to her many years before, and Joren to the realm's other female knight, Keladry of Mindelan.  
  
Alanna had also been stationed up near the Scandran border, defending Tortall from the wrath of King Maggur. She hadn't seen Kel since before the war had broken out on the border.  
  
Daine sat down next to Alanna. "Numair was called by the King before dawn. He said he'd meet me here, but-"  
  
She was interrupted by a lanky, dark haired mage sitting down next to her. He seemed slightly angry and had little on his plate: a sure sign he had work to do.  
  
Nuamair kissed Daine briefly on the cheek. "Sorry love, but I have to work. The Dominion Jewel was stolen last night and the King has asked me to help find who did it." He glanced at Alanna. "I'm surprised you didn't feel it," he told her.  
  
"I did, but I didn't think it was important," she said almost dismissively. "Are you sure the Jewel is missing?"  
  
"Do they need my help?" Daine asked.  
  
"I'll tell you when they have enough information about the thief for you to give your friends enough to find him. Right now, though," he said, finishing up his breakfast, "I must get back to work. We'll most likely be scrying all day before anyone will see anything useful."  
  
He gave Daine another kiss on the cheek before leaving the table. Alanna screwed up her forehead in thought.  
  
"The Jewel is well protected, with spells as well as the best locks to be found in the Eastern Lands. How could this have happened?" She shook away the thought. "It must have been Maggur. Who else would want to get their hands on the jewel badly enough to risk taking it?"  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Okay, I finished chapter three during International Studies (when I got my SAC on Australian Foreign Policy back and got 39 out of 50, happy Issie), and chapter two during Blue Heelers the same night. Chapter three however isn't typed up yet, which I will start straight away. Am I slightly weird or what?  
  
Please R&R, all you big red fire engines out there. (sorry, I think it has to do with a lack of Rove. Not enough, and you remember every single thing he has said. Although now, thanks to Rove, I know why my boyfriend likes Weird Al: Hawaiian shirts!!!! And I know why I like my boyfriend: Hawaiian shirts!!!) 


	3. Raine

Originally, this was going to be just about Amei, what happened with the Shang Phoenix, and her trying to stay out of the grasp of the Crown and its wrath, but I decided I wanted to get someone into enough trouble so they would get tortured or equivalent (okay, just tortured. The equivalent part just sounded cool), which needs at least one more character to work. And so the plot thickens.  
  
Oh yeah, Kayden's story 'To Play with Fire' gave me the wanting to torture someone. I swear (yes, my mother told me not to swear (and then I remember the last place I read that, sorry Kay), 'Under' has the best torture scene I've read for ages.  
  
Speaking of Kayden Eidyak, she reviewed. Kaydie, I can't believe you reviewed me back! I was going to actually ask. You're so cool, and a really good writer too! I found the spelling mistake with Scanra (Scandra. funnily enough, that's the way I think it, which is probably why I misspelled it in the first place). Thank you for saying you liked my new characters. A certain someone who is in my Lit class said she didn't like Sheiya, so I'm going to have to deal with that. Although I do see her point in Sheiya being excessively mean, but I hadn't thought of it that way and its kinda hard to change anyway. Oh, yes, I plan lots of funfun.  
  
Nefertity, yes more. I haven't gone back to read Tortallian Fire in. I'm not sure how long it's been since I've read it. Probably because I go on Fanfic every day at school, and I lose track of time. I remember now though. It took a while to get into, but it's pretty good. I'll read the next chapter when you get it up.  
  
Elspethelf. Me? Switch from one character to another? I guess I did. Well, now because I have two characters, plus the people searching for Amei, I think I'll be doing a bit of that. Having multiple characters is fun!  
  
Oh yeah, Kementari: thanks for telling me not to say it was a bad summary and a bad title, even though I do think the title was pretty bad and pretty non-descriptive. Lots of people reviewed me!!!  
  
Spoilers: none. Going into original character mode now.  
  
A/N: I've just figured out the years for chapter 1, and I'll upload the changes when I can be stuffed. Speaking of changes, Mouse lived in Port Caynn (the city near Corus), not Port Legaan, which has a cooler name and is a bit further south than Port Caynn.  
  
Oh, yeah, this Friday's my muck up day (or the last day of the last year of school, for those of you who don't understand that phrase). So I'll have exams, and then I'll have months to write fanfics! And get a job, and study up on the Chinese revolution coz I wanna, and maybe even finish that non- fanfic story that I started in year ten. and lots of things.  
  
I think I babble too much. I'm rather happy I don't talk as much as I write.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Raine  
  
Chapter 3  
  
That night, the rain poured down in sheets, never ceasing except for the odd shower of hail which caused Raine to pull down the hood of her cloak and run like the Black God was after her. Which, in a way, He was.  
  
Lightning flashed, illuminating her destination: the Palace gates. Thunder boomed immediately after, shaking the ground ominously. Her back ached dully, where her master- she pushed the thought away. All she needed to think about now was getting into the castle, nothing else.  
  
She ran straight up to the front gate, where a guard stood to admit those whose reasons for entry were sincere, and to turn away those who had no reason to be there. Like her.  
  
"Who are you, and what business do you have here?" one of the guards demanded.  
  
She had to be brave, and try her best to fool the guards. If she didn't try, she wouldn't survive the night.  
  
"My parents have sent for me," Raine said, trying to ignore the fact she was lying. Hoping neither of the guards had the Gift and could see through the lie. "It is an emergency, but they couldn't write what exactly and I don't know why. You must let me in!" She hated lying more than anything.  
  
The guards exchanged a dubious glance. Raine buried her head in her hands in dismay, and burst into tears.  
  
"My papa, my brothers," she continued, hoping they would take her tears for worry. She was glad she did not have to look them in the eye. "Jeysin, Auders. one of them could be." She gasped for breath.  
  
Her tears were enough to convince the guard. "Open the gate," he commanded.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered through her sobs. "You don't know how much this means to me."  
  
"Don't mention it, lass."  
  
Raine silently passed through the iron gates and made her way into the castle. If the Protector of the Small wouldn't take her in, no one would.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
The day after Mouse and the Shang Phoenix left Port Caynn was overcast, drizzling the whole day. The open fields were muddy, which made Mouse glad that the Shang had bought her new clothes and good travelling boots before they'd left the city.  
  
Mouse sorely needed to rest after three hours of walking, and was quick to tell the Shang so.  
  
After a few seconds she stopped. "If we don't stop now, I suppose you'll complain until we do."  
  
Mouse sat straight down on the boggy ground.  
  
"I guess you were tired." The Shang sat down next to her. "I expected you to start complaining hours ago. I guessed right. You are stubborn."  
  
Mouse didn't know quite what to say, so she didn't say anything.  
  
"Girl," Sheiya started, "What's your name? I don't think you've told me yet."  
  
"Does it matter?" Mouse said. "I haven't had a proper name for years. My friends call me Mouse, because I'm quiet, but that's no real name."  
  
"Quiet? You ain't gonna be quiet after you've been with me a few months. Why don't you give yourself a real name? I can't just call you Mouse all the time."  
  
Mouse thought quietly for a moment. "If I give myself a name, I'll want to change it in a few weeks time. You should give me a name. Then I won't be able to change it."  
  
"Intelligent, too," the Shang remarked. She gazed at the young girl's mouse brown hair and brilliant green eyes. She had a mouse-like look about her, but there was a lot more to her than that. There was something about the girl that reminded her of Yamani noble-ladies, delicate like a cherry blossom yet courageous and just, like a chivalrous knight.  
  
"I'll call you Amei. It means beautiful, in Yamani. After I had been there, I have always wanted to call my first born girl Amei."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Kel was woken hours before dawn by quiet but persistent knocking on her door. It took her at least an entire minute to drag her lifeless body and sleep dulled mind from beneath the warm, soft covers to walk across the hard, icy cold floor to open the door.  
  
The girl standing at the door had long, straight chocolate brown hair and the brown eyes of a sad puppy. Her clothes of brown and undyed cloth were sopping wet with rain, as was her hair: there was already a small puddle forming around her feet. There was something about her that reminded Kel's semi-functioning brain of a wild sparrow, a little creature that could be intensely curious, but would fly away at the slightest disturbance.  
  
She curtseyed lower than a commoner should to a noble, pulling her reluctant wet skirt away from her legs, then dropping it, allowing it to again cling to her legs. "Your fame has spread far, Lady Knight," she started precariously. "Your kindness to commoners is legendary."  
  
"Not at this hour of the night, it isn't," Kel grumbled. "What do you want?"  
  
"I have heard of what you did for Lalasa, when you were a page," the girl started, uncertain this was as good an idea as it was when she'd been- "I ask you to allow me to work as your maid. I do not care if you cannot pay me."  
  
Kel started to close the door. "It's too late for me to make decisions this big. Come back in the morning, and I'll think about it."  
  
"Please?"  
  
There was such desperation in her voice that Kel immediately opened the door. When she did, she noticed that the girl's face was tear streaked.  
  
The sharp pain in Raine's back flared up again, causing her to stumble. Kel caught her. For the first time that night, Raine realised she was short of breath, and knew exactly why.  
  
"Oh, Goddess," she gasped as she started to black out.  
  
Kel caught her before she touched the floor.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Amei stopped by the tavern of the Rogue, the Dancing Dove, to meet with her current boss. The man she was searching for was no associate of the Court of the Rogue, but she assumed he preferred to hide among men of the dishonest trade so his every dealing would be counted as one of theirs. She didn't even have his name. He, as a scholar-mage, did not fit the image of a member of the Court, but she, having about ten daggers on her person and dressing much like a man, did.  
  
The tavern was noisy, as was usual. The Court was not in session, but that did not mean that its members were not present. She knew some members by name, others by face, and had met the Rogue once or twice; but this place was by no means a haven for her. Even a Shang trained street rat could be beaten by those who hide in the shadows.  
  
A spark of cherry red fire in her mind's eye alerted Amei to the scholar's presence. Her gift often showed her glimmerings of magic in her mind's eye, and the ability to sense people's aura: the energy they project which gives others the feel of who they are. That ability, along with her training and the other aspects of her gift, made her valuable as a thief-assassin.  
  
She sat down at the scholar-mages table. He looked like he was in his early thirties and dressed as lower nobility would, even though she had long ago read his bourgeoisie descent from his aura. His ice- blue eyes could almost pierce steel when he was angered, but he would twist strands of his blue- black hair when he was anxious.  
  
"You have it?" Although, phrased like a question, it was closer to a demand.  
  
"Possibly." Amei loved playing these sorts of games, the more dangerous the opponent the better, the more exiting. Only a quick tempered fool would try to kill her for running rings around him. She did not have the stone with her, he would not be able to take it from her before she was given her due.  
  
"Either you have it or you don't, kit." He ground his teeth in irritation.  
  
Amei leant forward, resting her head on her arms. " I am no foxling," she said, "and you shouldn't grind your teeth like that just yet. You'll have nothing to chew your food with after we've finished negotiating my payment."  
  
He growled low in his throat. His anger would be hot and untamed, that of an injured panther, when he decided not to control it.  
  
"What do you want, then?"  
  
"I want my freedom. I long ago tired of doing what other people want me to for a living. I hate living in the shadows of the underworld. I want to feel the sun on my face."  
  
The man barked in laughter. "All who have lived in the underworld can never live in the sun! Do you not fear the wrath of the Lord Provost, Foxling? An attitude like that will land you on Traitor's Hill!"  
  
Amei glared at him, her beautiful green eyes cold.  
  
"After I lived in the streets of Port Caynn, I lived in the light. I travelled; saw things I had never dreamed I'd see. I've travelled to the Roof of the World, south of Carthak, north of Scanra." She had never told anyone about the Shang Phoenix, not since they'd been parted. She didn't think she could handle it if anyone knew.  
  
"I want to travel the world again. I want my freedom. I need it. If I stay in the shadows of the underworld for too long, it will kill me. I'm sure you know the feeling." His aura gave off a subtle feeling that this was not the first time he had been involved with the criminal underworld. "Give me enough money to live off for a month, make me look a little less disrespectable, and I'll hand you the Jewel. Do we have an understanding?"  
  
He leant back in his chair, not quite far enough to tip it onto two legs. "What makes you think I'll do all of this for you?"  
  
Amei smirked at him. "What makes you think I won't sell it on the black market to the highest bidder?"  
  
Leave it somewhere in the castle and beg for spy's work, more like.  
  
"You would risk being exposed as a traitor to spite me?"  
  
"Every trade has its risks. Death is the risk of the mercenary." She gazed at him coldly to make her point clear. He was not pleased: he believed her.  
  
She wished he didn't. She may have had the skills of a mercenary, but she didn't have the heart of one.  
  
"You wouldn't dare," he hissed, unaware she had seen his belief in her words.  
  
Amei simply stood up and headed for the door.  
  
"Wait."  
  
Amei stopped and turned around, but didn't join him back at the table. If she did, he would think she was backing down.  
  
"I can't give you everything you ask. I am not a wealthy man."  
  
Amei sneered at him. "You dress like a noble, yet you cannot fulfil my demands? The Dominion Jewel cannot be bought for a silver penny!"  
  
He paled. Amei wondered how he managed to make himself look sick so realistically. "But I am only a low-"  
  
"You are middle class, I know," she interrupted, giving him a moment of relief. Only a moment. "But nothing can hide the fact that you reek of wealth. You look like it, you act like it. I can read it on your aura like a seer can read the cards. Do not pretend you cannot give me what I ask. You could easily grant me triple what I ask."  
  
He gave her a bitter look. "You drive a hard bargain, Kit. Bring the Jewel to me at the riverbank near the west bank of town, at sunset tomorrow."  
  
"If you insist," Amei said smugly, dropping her tough exterior in triumph. "I will see you then." She walked up to the table and shook hands with him.  
  
"Nice to be doing business with you."  
  
He watched her walk out the door and smirked at her back.  
  
"Nice to be doing business with you too."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Awww, no one wanted to discuss my weirdness with the Hawaiian shirts. I take it as agreement that Hawaiian shirts are cool. Please click on that little purple button (or blue, depending on what colour your brain is telling you it is) in the bottom left corner of your screen and review. Or click on the one on the other left and re-read, and then review (I live in hope). I thank all reviewers, and hope for more. C ya. 


	4. The Streets

Gee, I think I babble too much. My whole first page of the last chapter was babble, according to Microsoft Word, so I'll just thank my reviewers and go on with the show.  
  
Where is everyone? If anyone sees destiny ruler, tell her there is a reason I don't let her read my fanfics in class.  
  
Lady Myrael: I do not want to see your economics teacher then. Although that sounds kinda cool that one of your teachers is risking absolute humiliation to be an individual. The whole muck up day concept runs on the fact that they can't really expel you, since you're out of school. But some schools organise things as well. Mine had a concert (by us), a slide show, and catered lunch, but I think some just have their students run around the place (or town, there's at least five schools in Geelong's CBD, including mine).  
  
Kaydie, thanks for reviewing again. I will stop annoying you to read my fanfic unless you really want to. Thanks for correcting my spelling, I'm not usually too bad.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
The Streets  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Before the break of dawn, Lady Kel went to the empty room the healer, Baron Whiteshaw, had told her he'd put the girl in. She carefully opened the door and went inside. She found the Baron sitting there, beside the girl's bed.  
  
"How is she?" she asked softly.  
  
"It was a wonder she didn't faint when she was stabbed in the first place. We've been barely able to keep the Black God away from her all night. She is slowly recovering, though."  
  
"Thank the Gods," Kel breathed. "Do you know her name?"  
  
"No," the healer said gently. "She didn't wake up for me to ask."  
  
A teenaged boy with light brown hair poked his head around the door, scaring Kel. "You called me, sir?"  
  
She could tell he didn't think much of his master.  
  
"Yes, boy. I have been sitting with this girl all night, since she came in. Could you keep an eye on her while I stretch my legs?"  
  
Kel thought she saw the boy give the healer a dark glare, as if he didn't believe that the Baron had been there the whole time. Either the Baron didn't notice in the dark of the room, or he ignored it.  
  
"Of course, sir."  
  
The Baron stood up and started walking towards the door. Kel stayed where she was.  
  
"Lady Knight, you don't have to stay her with the girl. The boy will tell you when she wakes, as he will me, won't you boy?"  
  
"Of course, sir."  
  
The boy, who was closer to the room's single chair than Kel, sat down on the floor where he could see the girl on the bed, leaving the knight to the chair.  
  
"I have no work to do until this afternoon. I will stay here."  
  
"As you wish, Lady Knight." The Baron clearly did not expect this reaction.  
  
She waited until he left the room before he began to speak.  
  
"That man- I would not work under him for any money."  
  
The teenager tucked his legs to his chest. "If I had the choice, I would not be working for him either." He eyed her suspiciously. "You're not going to tell him, are you?"  
  
"Why would I want to stir up trouble between you and your boss?" Kel replied honestly. "I don't cause trouble for commoners for the sake of it."  
  
Convinced, the boy continued. "He could be worse. He thinks he knows everything, but he often misses what's right under his nose. Surprisingly, he's a good healer. I think he is a lot more careful with his healing than he is with anything else." He uncurled himself slightly.  
  
"You wanted to know her name, Lady Kel?" he asked. "She woke, while the Baron was not there. Just before she-" He wished the Baron was a little more careful. It had drained all his Gift to keep her alive while he was out.  
  
"Her name is Raine."  
  
Kel looked over at the sleeping girl. "Raine. It suits her."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Amei woke up when the light from the rising sun caused the wall of the storehouse to glow orange. She made handprints in the sacks of flour and grain as she pushed herself upright. Her few possessions lay beside her: about ten daggers of different shapes and sizes, a handful of coin in a cloth purse, a scrap of paper, bits and pieces she had stolen but had not yet sold, a tiger's eye pendant set in copper.  
  
"Here," said the Shang Phoenix as she gave Amei what looked like a length of copper chain. "Happy birthday. You're thirteen, aren't you?"  
  
Amei could feel a smooth lump in the length of rough copper chain. She brushed the top layers of chain aside to reveal a gold banded gemstone, the bands changing in colour from golden brown to dusky brown as Amei tilted it in the light.  
  
"It's beautiful," she breathed. There must be something else to it. Sheiya would never give her anything just because it was pretty.  
  
"The stone's called tiger's eye. It's supposed to bring courage, wealth and luck. Tell me if it works, so I can get myself one." Amei laughed. The Shang had no patience for anything magical, although she did grudgingly admit that magic did work.  
  
"The copper's supposed to bring balance. Good luck," she snorted distainfully. "Balance in a warrior's life? Cows will fly first."  
  
"And I suppose you told the jeweller exactly what to use?" Amei enquired slyly,  
  
"Right as usual. Put that thing on or put it away. If we stand around here too long we'll get lost."  
  
Amei had been with the Shang for just under two years, and still didn't understand her sense of humour.  
  
"Okay." Amei secured the chain around her neck.  
  
The pouch holding the Dominion Jewel gleamed brightly in her mind's eye, although looking extraordinarily ordinary with her real eyes. She had not taken it anywhere but the storehouse, but she had placed an illusion spell on it: no one but her would be able to see it, unless she wanted it to be seen. The pouch that was spelled specifically for the task held nothing but a rock, yet was better spelled than the other. It held an illusion spell identical to the one on the other pouch, plus a spell to make men believe it held the Jewel. The scholar should see no reason to probe it; it would be foolish not to spell such a thing against thieves. Well, against other thieves.  
  
Amei slipped two of her daggers inside her boots, hid another two down her sleeves, one in the small of her back, two at her waist. how many was that? Seven? She attached her purse and a throwing dagger to her purse- belt, which was little more than a dirty piece of string. The throwing dagger was there mostly to make people think she was clueless about weapons and fighting. It gave her an excuse to steal money from those foolish enough to challenge her.  
  
She left the storehouse and went straight to the markets. Even a thief/assassin needed her breakfast. She greeted the local street rats, who laughed because she was silly enough to wear a throwing dagger instead of a normal dagger, and gave each of them a bright silver coin. Children like that shouldn't be out in the streets. No child should be out in the streets.  
  
Amei stopped at the fruit stall and picked up a shiny green apple. It reminded her of a friend she'd had in Port Caynn, the daughter of a poor merchant, who spent a lot of time with the street urchins. The children called her Sparrow, making her an honorary member of the group. She was quiet, but she was a lot of fun.  
  
Someone bumped into her, and the apple slipped out of her hand to splatter on the ground, splitting open to reveal soft white flesh. The feeling of being watched, being followed, haunted her magical sight for a split second. The mages at the palace were scrying for her, and they were getting very, very close to finding out who she was. If they had found out who she was already, they would be tracking her every move.  
  
The vendor glared at her, then stretched out his hand, silently demanding payment for the wasted fruit. Amei was tempted to just walk off; she could handle him if he grabbed her and demanded a fight. But she didn't want to abuse the fact that she could beat almost anyone in battle. She didn't want to become mercenary-hearted, but her power was slowly corrupting her judgement. She hated it.  
  
Amei gave the vendor a small handful of coins, double the amount of the apple, and took another when he wasn't looking. Sparrow said it was bad luck to waste a green apple, that Peoia, the Goddess of friendship and tame animals, would bring bad luck to one who did.  
  
Mouse admired the smooth, speckled green surface of the fruit. It caught the bright sunlight in a round white patch on its surface. Sparrow laid the brightly coloured fruit on its side and cut it in half, revealing a five pointed star, each point made of a perfect teardrop.  
  
"Peoia created a star inside every apple, a perfect five pointed star, to keep the light of friendship shining bright in this world," Sparrow explained. "If anyone has ever admired her own creation, the green apple, and has shared it with a friend, the two friends will stay friends forever. But if anyone ever wastes a green apple, she will curse you with bad luck."  
  
Sparrow offered Mouse a half of the star-apple. "Eat up. Our friendship will never end." She took a bite out of her half of the apple.  
  
Mouse did the same. "Nothing will ever tear us apart."  
  
But they were torn apart. Sparrow's father made her work as a servant for a rich merchant in Corus a week later, and the Shang Phoenix took Mouse away the next year. She had known Sparrow for years, since she was allowed to play on the streets by herself. Now she only had memories.  
  
It was raining hard, and Sparrow was crying. "I leave tomorrow, Mouse. I was afraid he wouldn't let me out to tell anyone. I'm going to become a pretty little nobody in some house in Corus. I'll become a nobody, a nothing, who'll know nothing but her master's command." She sobbed harder. "He won't even let you visit me."  
  
Mouse hugged her tight. "Never forget your true self, Sparrow. I could never remember who I am supposed to be, who my parents were, but I remember what I wanted to be, what I don't want to be. I can still remember my hopes and my dreams."  
  
Sparrow buried her head further into Mouse's shoulder. "But you're such a strong person. You always know what you want, what you'll do to get it, and what you wouldn't do no matter what the reward. I never know what I want to do. I'm too indecisive to have constant hopes and dreams."  
  
"But you do have constant hopes and dreams. You always wanted to be able to help people." Mouse squeezed her harder, hoping that if she could hang on forever, Sparrow wouldn't have to go away. "You just need to believe in yourself. You know who your true self is better than I do. You know what kind of person you want to be when you have your own children. I'm still not sure what kind of person I want to be."  
  
Sparrow could hear her friend's sobs. She was starting to cry too.  
  
"Maybe we could do something," Sparrow suggested, "to make sure we can find our true selves again, if we lose them. We could do something to make sure we see each other again. We could give something to each other, bind it with blood, so we will see each other again. Mouse, do you remember what your real name was, the one your parents gave you?"  
  
"Barely. I have more trouble remembering it with every day that goes by."  
  
"I'll give you my true name, and you'll give me yours, okay? When we see each other again, we'll give each other's name back. So when we both get our names back, we'll remember our true selves."  
  
"But you know your true name."  
  
"I'll give myself a new name. I won't tell my parents, I'll only tell my new master. I'll forget my old name, with all the work I'll have to do."  
  
Sometimes Amei thought her true self was that cold heartless mercenary, that she was just fighting the inevitable when she helped the street kids, fetched a healer for someone who had a bad day. Since she had settled in Corus, she had done many of the things she had thought she'd never do when she was living in Port Caynn. It had occurred to her that one's true self could evolve as one experienced more, but she would never have thought that she could end up stealing and killing people for more money than she needed to survive. If she didn't get her freedom soon, she would truly become that cold, heartless mercenary.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Daine was eating dinner in the mess hall with Alanna and Kel when a tall, dark, virtual stranger came to sit next to her. Daine kissed him on the cheek, as she hadn't seen him since breakfast the previous day.  
  
"We've got her," he announced triumphantly. "Brown haired, green eyed, Gifted, and most likely a warrior of some sort. We've sent some guards out into the city, but if she's stronger than we thought, we'll have to send some knights. Are you ladies up to the challenge?" he added slyly.  
  
"That rat Maggur and his cronies deserve every little bit they get," Alanna said hotly. "A traitor deserves a traitor's death."  
  
"If she's Scanran, she's not technically a traitior," Numair reminded her.  
  
"But if she's Tortallian, she is," Daine said quietly.  
  
"I hope not," Alanna said. "A Tortallian girl, a spy for Maggur?"  
  
"You never know," Kel said. "If King Maggot wanted the Jewel, he should at least bring an army with him. No sneaking around."  
  
"Oh, Kel," Numair interrupted. "I just remembered. A young boy came up to me while I was on my way here. He asked me to tell you that Raine's awake."  
  
Kel immediately stood up and pushed her chair in.  
  
"Who's Raine?" Alanna asked.  
  
"My new maid," Kel answered before she walked off.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Sorry if I can't write Alanna, Kel, Daine and Numair very well. That's kinda why I use my own characters. I try to write them well, but it may or may not work.  
  
If I don't update very regularly during (my three months of) holidays, blame it on: the exams (any year 12 student from Victoria who happens not to be studying before Friday, good luck on the English exam), Kingdom Hearts (sorry, I got addicted when we got the game last week. Believe it or not, it's like a Final Fantasy/Disney crossover fanfic with some original characters thrown in for good measure), and a whole pile of really fat books I plan to read sometime.  
  
Please read and review, even if you don't really have anything to say in a review, it makes me feel loved. I'll review back, I promise. 


	5. Awake

Sorry about the wait. Exams are a pain in the ass. If you want to know, English went good, Literature went okay, History was shocking, International studies went okay, Chinese was shocking, but now I'm just glad they're over.  
  
Kementari, I will. Enjoy the school hols, and the not-having-exams.  
  
Kayden, thanks for reviewing yet again. For some really odd reason, you're the only one who regularly reviews my fic. I think my so-called friends don't like me anymore *dramatic sniff*.  
  
Anyway, enjoy your long chappie. It's over 2000 words long!  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Awake  
  
Raine woke up with a sore back, feeling drained of energy. She was lying on something soft- a bed. A bed with a really soft mattress. It had been years since she had slept in a bed at all.  
  
She carefully, slowly, tried to sit up. Pain shot through her back, and she groaned.  
  
"Careful," a male voice warned her gently. "You don't want to undo the healers' good work."  
  
"What happened?" Raine asked. "I just remember falling. fainting."  
  
"That would explain it," he said.  
  
"That would explain what?"  
  
"Why you didn't try to heal yourself. You didn't realise someone had stabbed you."  
  
Raine twisted around to see who she was talking to. He looked about her age, fourteen, with coppery brown hair and pale brown eyes flecked with green. There was something mouselike about him, the feeling that he usually watched and listened, but said little.  
  
"Someone stabbed me in the back?" she repeated dumbly. An image of a man who could have been just anyone hitting her hard in the back floated the surface of her mind.  
  
"The healers were worried you wouldn't survive the night. Lady Kel was also asking about you."  
  
Raine sank back into the bed. She honestly never thought that Lady Keladry would agree to help her, but she needed someone powerful to protect her from her master and if she didn't ask, she wouldn't have had that chance. She would have had to hide in the streets, where she could be easily found.  
  
" 'The healers?' " Raine noticed. "Wouldn't you be an apprentice or something? You have the Gift."  
  
He sighed. "I'm only here to keep things clean and to look after patients." Raine could detect frustration in his voice.  
  
"What's your name?" she asked.  
  
"Aaran. Common born and bred," he added.  
  
"I'm Raine. Just Raine."  
  
"You told me last night," Aaran told her. "Don't you remember?"  
  
Raine searched her memory for something- anything- that happened between the time she blacked out and the time she woke up.  
  
"No, I guess I don't," she said after she had given up on her search. Then the memory hit her.  
  
"You have the Gift," she repeated. "I remember your voice. We talked," she recalled the images as if they were from a dully remembered dream. "Something happened. Something. went wrong? You- your Gift. It's pale blue. It." she scoured the faint memory harder for the details. "It kept me away from that dark, miserable place." She took a second to rearrange the sounds and images into something that made sense in the real world.  
  
"You saved my life."  
  
"I couldn't hold you for long. I had to wait until the Baron came back. Luckily he came back pretty soon."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Anyone else in the same position would have done the same," he said truthfully. "When you have a healing Gift, it doesn't look very good to have someone die when you're looking after them."  
  
"Oh," Raine said, slightly disappointed.  
  
"I wouldn't be very happy with myself either," Aaran added quickly. "No one would want to lose the person you're meant to be looking after."  
  
"No. That would be awful."  
  
"Luckily it hasn't happened to me yet," he lied. "That would be awful."  
  
They sat staring at each other for a few second, unsure what to say.  
  
"I guess I should go now. They asked me to tell them when you woke up."  
  
"Tell who?"  
  
"My boss, mostly. And Lady Kel."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Amei huddled in a corner of the Dancing Dove. She badly wanted to get so drunk she wouldn't remember anything between then and sunrise the next morning, but alcohol dulls the reflexes as well as the pain, and she didn't want to be caught off guard by the provost's men. They'd know what she looked like by now, and would be sending patrols out for her, but the mages probably wouldn't start probing for a few-  
  
A throbbing headache appeared out of nothing, making Amei want to scream in pain. Then a thick fog shrouded her thoughts, and the panic started. They were tracking her. She had to get out. Now.  
  
She ran out through the door, knocking over a chair, and down the street faster than she thought she could run. The dim thought that she'd just done something very stupid occurred to her, but she couldn't figure out why it was stupid. She could hear them running after her, three or four of them.  
  
Amei ran around the corner, scrambled up a pile of crates and jumped down the other side with the guards close behind. She climbed up a pile of grina sacks, and pulled herself onto the roof. She heard one of the guards behind her curse at the mere thought of climbing up onto the rooftops.  
  
The clouds that fogged her brain subsided, and Amei knew she had to stop and fight. If she kept running she might not lose them, and would have to face them when she wasn't as fresh as she was now. She'd prefer it if it she didn't have the headache, as it was extremely distracting, but she didn't have the luxury of choice.  
  
Amei pulled her daggers out of her boots and crouched into her ready position. Two guards climbed onto the roof tops after her. She allowed them to ready themselves and to draw their weapons before launching an attack.  
  
The daggers she held, each thin bladed with a hand guard which bent upwards on each side so they looked like a pair of forks, were specially made for fighting swordsmen. They weren't the most expensive daggers she had, but they were her favourite. She never went anywhere without them.  
  
Amei slashed the first guard across the chest and followed it with an upward stroke. Neither had drawn blood, but the guard had been unnerved by Amei's speed and accuracy. He sideswiped at her warily, being careful to keep his guard up. She blocked each attack with the blade of her dagger.  
  
She heard the other guard creeping up behind her. Her battle sight told her he was going to cleave her left shoulder. She caught the strike in one dagger while fending off attacks from the front. One in front, one behind.  
  
A challenge. Cool.  
  
Amei blocked in back, lunged at the guard in front. She could almost hear the Shang Phoenix shouting warnings and hints at her from somewhere in her memory. She turned sideways and struck to the back, keeping her guard at the front up. Each of the guards was a good fighter, but the two of them were no match for Amei's Shang training and her battle sight, a part of her Gift that let her see what an opponent would do before he did it. Sometimes it waned her that a battle was about to take place by turning itself on, heightening Amei's senses.  
  
Amei warded off every attack from both sides, moving as if she could read their minds. The guard behind her caught his sword on Amei's forked dagger and twisted her wrist wrenching the sword out of its holder's grasp. Amei picked up the sword and sheathed her dagger.  
  
"If you want to continue, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you," Amei said, pointing the sword at the unarmed guard.  
  
"Do you think I would back down from a fight with such a treacherous villain as you, girl?" the guard spat. "You will get what's coming to you."  
  
The other guard swung his sword at Amei. She half turned to block the swing, then stabbed the guard with the sword. He fell forward, ripping the sword out of Amei's hand.  
  
"I'm sorry," Amei whispered.  
  
"I bet you are," the other guard said angrily. He turned his workmate over onto his back, pulled the sword out of his belly, checked his breathing, checked his pulse. Amei tried to help but the guard pushed her aside.  
  
"I don't need any help from you, traitor."  
  
Amei shook her head in disbelief. "I could call a healer. I could help take him off the roof."  
  
"If you don't wanna get caught, girl, you better run."  
  
"No," Amei insisted. "It's my fault. I want to help."  
  
He slowly, menacingly, turned towards her. "You don't understand, do you?" He stabbed a dagger into Amei's chest.  
  
"He's dead. He's dead, and you killed him."  
  
Amei staggered back in shock. She didn't mean to, she never wanted to, and yet she always managed to get someone killed. She hated it. Sure, when she was desperate, when she had no money for food, she would kill someone: she would always use poison so she didn't have to watch them die. She knew it was cowardly, that she owed it to them to see what she'd done and take responsibility, but it was easier to pretend they were just meaningless dots to her.  
  
The street rat didn't realise that she had been hurt until she jumped off the roof and hit the ground. Pain jolted through the left side of her chest. She looked down and saw the dagger protruding from her rib cage, just below her breast. Her vision blurred and her world swayed.  
  
"Not now," she moaned. She carefully lowered herself behind a pile of boxes, and lay down.  
  
Amei shuddered. She had no idea how badly she was hurt. If she pulled the knife out now, it could cut further into her body, and it could kill her, piercing her lung or her heart. It was even possible she had been mortally wounded and hadn't realised it yet. The second her heart stopped racing from battle, she would be able to check the Giftless way. If the guards came looking for her, she would shroud herself in her Gift, becoming invisible.  
  
Her breathing did not slow as her heart rate did. When she breathed in, the air in her chest seemed to bubble, and it was harder to get the air in each time she breathed. She coughed hard, and spat the liquid she'd coughed up into her hands. Red droplets dotted her palms.  
  
"I'm dead," she breathed to herself. The dagger had pierced her lung. If she did not find a healer, she would die.  
  
Amei grasped the dagger firmly with both hands, and quickly pulled it out. She cried out in pain. It could find its way to her heart if she walked around with it in her chest. She slowly stood up, carefully climbed back over the crates, walked down the street holding her side as she made her way to the nearest healer's house. Sirra's house.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Kel entered to find Baron Whiteshaw and the teenaged boy sitting with Raine. The healer was trying to make inane conversation with the girl, but she was more interested in talking to the boy.  
  
"Raine," Kel said, startling the other three people in the room. "How are you?" She sat down in the empty chair beside the bed.  
  
Raine was surprised that the Lady Knight would ask her directly rather than ask the healer. The Baron looked surprised too, but he didn't say anything.  
  
"I'm fine, milady. Ready to start work on your rooms the second you ask me to."  
  
Kel shook her head. "Not 'milady', just Kel."  
  
"As you say, Lady Keladry."  
  
"Don't call me 'Lady Keladry' either. Just Kel."  
  
Raine rolled onto her side, propping herself up with an elbow. "Begging your pardon, milady, but if I stop calling you by title, I may one day forget to call another noble by title, who may not react as kindly as you, Lady Knight."  
  
"Point taken." Kel leaned forward slightly in her chair, in a businesslike fashion. "So, did you see who stabbed you?"  
  
Raine froze. She couldn't tell the Lady Knight; not now, not ever. Even though he had wronged her, she had wronged him first, and if asked him why he tried to kill her they would give her back to him, to do with as he pleased.  
  
"No, I didn't." She turned her eyes away from Kel.  
  
"Are you sure?" Kel asked, noticing the way her eyes flickered away, the way she answered a little too quickly.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Kel leant in close to Raine, and talked so quietly that no one else could hear her.  
  
"Why did you come to the palace, go through all the trouble of lying to the guards, waking me up in the middle of the night, ask to be my maid, just to run away from someone you didn't see?"  
  
Raine looked up at her fearfully. This would be the end of it. She would be sent back into the streets, and he would find her. She could hide for a while, maybe scrounge up enough money to leave the city and her master behind if she was lucky; if not, wait for the inevitable.  
  
"I guess I'll just leave as soon as the healer says I am fit to go," Raine said quietly. "I will survive."  
  
Something in her tone gave Kel a clue as to why the girl came to the palace seeking her protection. "He will kill you if he finds you, won't he?" Kel whispered.  
  
The look on Raine face more than answered her question.  
  
"Don't worry Raine. I'll help you."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
"Amei, you should be more careful," the blonde healer said, cutting of the flow of her baby pink Gift into closing the wound in Amei's chest. "You need to stop taking on jobs that attract the attention of the Lord Provost. Next time they'll catch you for sure."  
  
"I should have just melted instead of running away, but my brain can't handle the tracking spells. I just panic an than I can't think properly."  
  
"You melt?" the healer asked.  
  
"I become see-through. Melt into the background, like that." Amei stretched, arching her back against the wooden table she was lying on. "Don't worry, Sirra. This is the last time. I've given him the most valuable jewel this side of the Roof of the World, and he'll give me the freedom I want in return."  
  
The girl with the long blonde hair was a few years older than Amei, and in some ways had seen more of life than the orphaned girl. "Have you thought about what profession you'll take when you have your freedom? I didn't think you'd want to marry."  
  
Amei thought for a second. This was something she'd overlooked.  
  
"I'm not sure. Odds and ends for anyone who asks, I guess."  
  
"You won't earn enough. You might want to learn another skill. If you found someone to train your Gift, you could sell spells and potions," the healer suggested.  
  
"I'll just see what happens when it happens, okay?" Amei snapped as she sat up and got down off the table. "Can I go now? I've got something that needs to be delivered to the river at sunset."  
  
Sirra gave her a harsh look. "If you must, be careful. I don't want to see you again any time soon."  
  
"If you insist."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
A whole 2,530 words, which is about eight and a half A4 pages. No wonder why it took a week after the exams to get it typed up.  
  
As usual, review me and I'll review you. I'll try not to take so long with the next chapter. 


	6. Betrayal

Forget whatever I said about writing more. It's officially school holidays, and I seem to be doing everything except writing fanfiction. Actually, all I seem to be doing is reading, playing on the PlayStation, and delivering catalogues. I'll try, though.  
  
Destiny Ruler- sorry about the rudeness with the 'so-called friends'. I kinda forget that some people actually have to work. I'm happy you still think I'm a good writer, I think my writing ability is going downhill with the not taking the time to change what I think isn't that good and not being able to go back and change stuff because no one really wants to go back and read it once they've already read it.  
  
Kementari, I'm really happy you liked my chapter. I think you'll really like this one. Or kill me for it. I think everyone will kill me for it, really. Please update your story, I know you have the time to write more (but maybe not the inclination?)  
  
Queen of Connaught- Again, happy you liked. I believe I have read both of your fics, and I believe they are also quite good. *in singsong voice* Someone likes Numair, someone likes Numair.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Betrayal  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Mensen delivered the end of his report to the Lord Provost.  
  
"The girl killed Narten?" The Provost queried.  
  
The guard smirked. "She said she was sorry, said she would fetch a healer and help get him off the roof. When she killed him, she had not a scratch on her body. If that girl is human, I'm the King's brother."  
  
"Woodsfeld reported she dismantled the tracking spell he placed on her. This is going to be a game of cat and mouse worthy of the winner's prize. That girl is not going to be easy to capture."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
The healer said Raine could go not long after Kel had almost thrown her back out into the streets. The Baron said he didn't have anything else to do, so he let Aaren have the afternoon off. Aaren offered to show Raine around the palace, which she accepted, but Kel said she had to be back at her quarters after dinner to be shown where everything was and to be given instructions on what to do there.  
  
"The kitchen staff eat after everyone else has been served, but all the other servants eat with the nobles," Aaren told Raine when he showed her the mess hall and the adjoining kitchens.  
  
"How strange. I didn't think a noble would sit with a commoner, much less eat with one." Her own experiences with nobles told her that they looked down on commoners and avoided being social with them at all costs.  
  
"Mostly they sit at different tables. Although there have been a few exceptions." He continued, "If the Lady ever wants you to fetch something from the kitchens, you go here."  
  
Raine pulled a chair out from a nearby table and sat down. "I won't be able to remember all of these places when I have to run errands," she panted. "Don't tell me there's more."  
  
Aaren shook his head. "If you want, I can show you other parts of the castle."  
  
She thought about it for a moment. "Are there any girls in training to become Lady Knights?"  
  
"A squire and two pages. If you want to become a warrior, you'll have to join the Queen's Riders."  
  
Raine recoiled sharply. She didn't want anything to do with the fighting arts: people who fought got hurt.  
  
"I'm not old enough," she said rudely. "Who said I wanted to become a warrior anyway?"  
  
"Lady Kel will teach you self defence whether you are willing to learn or not," Aaren replied tartly, correctly guessing why Raine had responded so harshly. "Considering why she'd be a fool not to."  
  
The room seemed to grow cold. "Why did I come here then?" Raine quietly challenged him.  
  
Aaren saw the challenge and backed off. "Because someone tried to kill you, and you didn't know what else to do. It's a better reason than most." He pulled out a chair and sat down.  
  
Raine shook her head gently, and the cold disappeared. "I'm sorry. You saved my life and I've been awful to you."  
  
"There's no law that says you have to be friendly with someone who saves your life," Aaren prodded her gently.  
  
"But it's awfully rude not to," Raine added. "It's just, the idea of me being trained how to hurt people is scary. I don't want to be able to hurt people like that."  
  
During the tour, Aaren had purposely chosen to take Raine through halls of armour and halls of maps and paintings to see whether she would prefer going to the palace's museum, the library, the training yard or the menagerie. It was more accurate to ask, but it felt almost silly to ask. Not to mention, he enjoyed surprising people with what information e had picked from them.  
  
"Do you want o go to the library?" Aaren asked. "It's big enough to get lost in."  
  
Raine's eyes lit up. She didn't have to say a word.  
  
"Follow me."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Numair closed the door behind him as he went into the Lord Provost's office.  
  
"Have you caught the girl yet?" the black robed mage asked.  
  
"No." The response was as sour as old grapes. "Thanks to our tracking mages, she was cornered by two of my men, which she defeated in combat. She killed Narten, and reportedly left without a scratch, save a possibly fatal wound received after the contest." He didn't look too happy. "If she's dead, we won't be able to locate the Dominion Jewel."  
  
"The Dominion Jewel is one of the most powerful sources of magic this side of the Emerald Sea," Numair said matter-of-factly It would be near impossible to hide its presence from our tracker mages."  
  
The Provost sat down. "We have called in the realm's best tracker mages. The Dominion Jewel has not been detected in a detailed search of the Eastern and Southern lands. We need that girl alive to find the Jewel."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Raine looked over the top of the huge leather bound volume she was trying to read. Aaren looked a bit bored, and the book was hard to understand.  
  
"A few years ago," she started, rousing Aaren from his semi-sleeping state, "I had a really, really good friend. This was back in Post Caynn," she added, "where I grew up. My family still lives there. Her friends called her Mouse, and because I played with them a lot, they named me Sparrow. I haven't had a good friend since: not in m master's house, not in Corus."  
  
He didn't say anything.  
  
"You're pretty quiet. Why have you told me so much about places and people, yet nothing about yourself?"  
  
"I prefer not to talk much. No one ever wants to know anything about me, so I don't tell them."  
  
Raine waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she reminded him, "I asked. I want to know about the person who saved my life."  
  
"There's nothing to tell you," he insisted. "I've been a servant here for as long as I can remember."  
  
"What about your parents?" she persisted. "Do they work here? Or do they live in town?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
It was time to change the subject. Aaren was looking like he didn't want to say anything more. If he did know something, he was a very convincing liar.  
  
"You have the Gift? I wish I did too. I'm as useless as a three legged mule."  
  
"It doesn't make life any easier," he said shortly.  
  
"That's not what I've heard, all these wonderful stories of what Gifted people can do, in legend and in real life."  
  
She had pushed him to his limit. "What I did to you two nights ago, it drained me so badly I slept almost 'til dawn. I only pulled you away for a few seconds, and I was so close to losing you. That's the most wonderful I have ever done with my Gift, and I was scared it would kill me. That's the kind of fun having the Gift is."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Amei sat facing the river, letting her Gift spread out to warn her of anyone approaching. She had brought the fake Dominion Jewel, and had the usual number of daggers hidden on her person. The wound in her side throbbed every so often, just making sure she didn't forget it.  
  
There were a lot of guardsmen and peasant soldiers within her magical sight for the time of day, but all of them seemed to be off duty: there were a few small groups of them scattered around, talking and laughing. None of them seemed to be drunk, which was atypical of guardsmen who were off duty, but Amei didn't feel anything strange enough to suggest she should move away from them. There were also children splashing away in the river, but their mothers and sisters called them away before the sun started to throw red streaks over the sky and across the rippling river.  
  
Amei only turned away when an arrogant, middle class, quick tempered aura accompanied by a cherry red Gift entered her magical sight. She quickly checked the illusions she had placed on the large stone to make sure they still held and carefully stood up. He might be able to tell she had been injured earlier that day, but it didn't really matter. Amei would get what she wanted here, and so would the scholar.  
  
"Good evening," she greeted him pleasantly when he arrived. "I almost thought you wouldn't make it."  
  
"It's just barely sunset now," the man replied. "I thought you might not be here yet. So, where's this Jewel?"  
  
"Only where it needs to be," Amei answered lightly, placing a protective hand over the pouch. "Are you going to ask me to give it to you before you keep your end of the bargain?" If she gave it up too quickly, he might begin to suspect her plan.  
  
"I'm afraid I am," he sighed dramatically. "Only a fool would trust a street rat with their most valuable possession."  
  
"But you trusted me to steal it for you. If I was going to steal it and run, I would have disappeared before you met me at the palace gates. The black market is looming closer, if you will not listen," Amei warned him. "I can get my money elsewhere."  
  
"Have you ever wondered why I have never given you my name, any information about who I am?" The subject change startled Amei.  
  
"Just another way to protect yourself against the men of the law," Amei said more dully than she meant to. She had been curious since he had asked her to steal the Jewel, but in the underworld, information was given out on a need to know basis, and she didn't need to know.  
  
"Sure you don't want to know?" He looked slightly disappointed.  
  
"No." She was dying to know.  
  
"I thought you might find the truth interesting, that's all." He looked like he was going to change the subject, but then he changed his mind.  
  
"I am the Earl Renid, of Breyfeld. My manor's half a day's walk from here, to the north. I have a reputation for doing anything to avoid going to Court. I just enjoy playing other nobles off each other, inconspicuously of course," he added, "and add as much information as I can to my studies of power. One day I'll be controlling that Court, by use of manipulation and brute force."  
  
Something clicked in Amei's mind, the reason he was prepared to tell her so much information, information that could get him hanged as a traitor to the Crown. "Here," she said a little too briskly, giving him the pouch. "It's yours."  
  
The noble, Renid, laughed. "You are very foolish, foxling. What I have said cannot be taken back, but at least I can prevent you from telling anyone else." He grinned. "I noticed you look a bit short of breath, girl. Did the royal guard find you today?"  
  
Amei moved away from the river and unsheathed her fork daggers. She felt sick.  
  
So this is what it feels like to know you're going to die.  
  
"Kill her!"  
  
The guardsmen and peasant soldiers Amei had noticed earlier rushed forward, surrounding her. They attacked with daggers and short spears; stabbing and slashing. Amei could block the attacks at her front and sides, but couldn't stop them from stabbing through her rib cage, or breaking her spine from the back.  
  
One of them hit her side, and the blow opened up the wound in her lung. Another one stabbed her in the belly, under her defence, and twisted his spear spitefully. Another caught his spear in her dagger and twisted, breaking her wrist. One impaled her from back to front, disabling no major organs but hurting Amei so much that in that moment Amei wished they would hurry up and kill her.  
  
Short of breath, exhausted, lightheaded to the point of barely being able to stand and certain she was going to die within the next ten minutes even if they did leave her be, Amei turned towards the river and pushed away the peasants, staggered towards the water and half-jumped, half-fell into the river. Even though she knew she was going to die, her instincts were telling her to get away, to find someone to help her.  
  
"No you don't, kit," Renid growled. He called on the cherry red fire within himself and made for certain that the girl would not survive.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Amei kicked herself in the direction her mage sight told her was up. She was not a strong swimmer and never had been, but now she was away from the battle, she knew she could survive. She pushed up and up, her body becoming weaker from lack of air. The only thing she wanted to do was to take a big lungful of air.  
  
She kicked as hard as she could, and her hand touched a surface that felt like glass.  
  
No! She screamed in panic. She punched and kicked at the smooth surface, gathering as much force into the attacks as she knew how. The surface didn't give way, the glass didn't crack.  
  
Her lungs finally gave out, forcing her to breathe in a lungful of water. She used the rest of the energy she could find to try and break the glass surface, unable to reason enough to try and find the edge of the hard surface. She punched and kicked at the hard surface frantically in the few seconds before her body started shutting down. Her energy gave out, her thoughts ran together like wet paint on a rainy day.  
  
Amei gave up, her consciousness leeching into nothingness.  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
On the shore, Renid pulled a large violet gemstone out of the pouch, its bright surface catching the rays of the dying sun.  
  
"Thanks, foxling. You've been extremely helpful."  
  
* ~ * ~ *  
  
Oh, sorry. Did you like her? I was just feeling like the evil author I am, and I thought my story needed a little something to change the mood. *Mwa ha ha ha ha* Yes, I am an evil, evil author.  
  
If you don't like it, review. If you do like it, review. Please. 


End file.
